


Fortune and Glory

by akire_yta



Series: prompt ficlets [477]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen, smol!tracys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2019-01-04 00:12:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12157647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akire_yta/pseuds/akire_yta
Summary: preludeinz requested: Fortune





	Fortune and Glory

The sun hung in the Kansas sky like a copper penny.  The light turned everything golden, from the waving stalks of corn to the shimmer in the air.  “Another half mile,” the boy with the map said, turning on the spot to test his compass heading.

“Let’s go,” the older boy’s dark hair was poking out from under a bleached-pale baseball cap.  The knapsack on his back had a frayed strap that he couldn’t stop fidgeting with as he watched his brother read the map.

Their youngest wasn’t the youngest - he was back at the house, toddling around after grandma.  Soon he wouldn’t be the youngest; the oldest were getting used to having a new youngest brother.  As long as they stayed the eldest, they were happy.

But the youngest brother on this expedition had been entrusted with the shovel, and he dragged it behind him on the dusty ground for a few feet before he got up enough speed to swing it around to rest on his shoulder, like he had seen his granddad do.

The three of them walked through the field, under the swaying heads of corn the last half mile, to where X marked the spot on the map, and on the ground.

The youngest had carried the shovel for this moment, and now he stepped forward to claim his right to be the one to dig.  The hardpacked soil had been knocked loose, making it easy for short arms and legs to push the shovel into the dirt.

A few inches under the surface, it hit something with a hollow  _clunk._ The three brothers gathered around the hole, working together to hoist the wooden box free.

There was a moment of breathless anticipation as the lid swung open, hanging in the air like another golden moment.

From out through the corn came the sound of laughs and shouting as they pulled out the old interesting toys, the worn old books and the modern-bright plastic lunch boxes full of snacks and special treats.

Lucy curved her hand around under her belly, smiling as she heard the noise of excited boys coming out from over the fence that separated farmyard from field.  “I think the expedition was a success,” she said over her shoulder.

Her husband’s hands were strong as they cupped her belly.  “Every little boy should get a chance to seek their fortune in the second field.  It’s a family rite of passage.”

Lucy put her hands over his as three small boys tumbled out from between the stalks, their treasure clutched gleefully in their hands.


End file.
